Be the Next Victoria's Secret Angel!

If you've the looks and the body, grab your once in a lifetime chance to walk the runway during upcoming Victoria's Secret Angels Fashion Show. Check out the official guidelines and screening schedules to join Miranda Kerr, Alessandra Ambrosio, Heidi Klum and other angels.

Weekend Excursions.

I'm counting down the days until two upcoming getaways I have planned...

I booked two overnight trips in October and November for me and the boyfriend {we are in desperate need of an escape...}. I have been yearning for a vacation for a while, but until we can save up for a big, international excursion, these little weekend jaunts will definitely tide us over.

In October we are going to Eureka Springs, Arkansas for a stay at the Crescent Moon Hotel and Spa -- a gorgeous Victorian building, today considered to be one of America's most haunted hotels. There is going to be a ghost tour...and some spa pampering. Seems like a perfect combination! In November, for our anniversary, we are going to stay at the Price Tower in Bartlesville. Price Tower is one of architecture's best kept secrets -- it is a skyscraper built by Frank Lloyd Wright, right in the middle of Oklahoma's beautiful prairie. If you live near OK, or you are just an architecture buff, it is definitely worth the trip.

I am so looking forward to some R&R in the upcoming months! What about you, my lovely readers? Do you have any vacations or getaways planned? Sometimes the quick, weekend trips are more relaxing than the long vacations...you should treat yourself!

Vampire Fashion Updates From New Moon Posters

I know that a lot of Twilight die-hard fans are craving for some of the latest fashion updates for the upcoming movie Twilight Saga: New Moon. To satisfy your hunger, I present to you some of the newest New Moon posters from Just Jared. Let your eyes feasts on Robert Pattinson's vampire fashion styles together with the rest of the gang.

Ashley Tisdale Wears the Latest Fashion Trends in Puerco Espin Campaign Ads

Ashley Tisdale had some new campaign ads for Puerco Espin Fall 2009 catalog. Checkout some of her new looks that sported a fashionable, romantic, casual and refined chic.







Source: JustJared Jr.

Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2009-2010

I love the new campaign ads of Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter Collection. They are so bold and colorful. Models posed against the Halloween background too. Photographed by David Burton.







Source

Form

Bless, 2008

Sylvie Fleury, Keepall in chrome plated broze, 2000

Joseph Beuys, Felt Suit, 1970

Martin Margiela, plaster cast of first jacket from 1989, Spring 2009

Hussein Chalayan, S 2007

Matthew Barney, Cremaster 1, 1995

Hussein Chalayan, F 2003

Viktor & Rolf, F 2007

Viktor & Rolf, S 2006

Deconstruction & Part-Object

Martin Margiela collection in 1991 and Lygia Clark, "Proposition," 1966-8

In “Deconstruction Fashion: The Making of Unfinished, Decomposing and Re-Assembled Clothes,” Alison Gill uses the idea of decontruction borrowed from philosophy. Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher who named the process of breaking down established forms. The term is normally applied to text but also describes breaking down conventions and normal boundaries. Gill suggests the fashion style of deconstruction, called “Le Destroy,” by the French, is an intentional effort at unfinished forms that are coming apart, recycled or transparent. Rei Kawakubo, Karl Lagerfeld, Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester and Dries Van Noten are the designers in this category. The basis of all decontructioned clothing is aestheticized non-functionality that amounts to anti-fashion.

In philosophy, deconstruction reveals the instability of meaning of words and phrases. The deconstuction of style was first observed in communication design in the Cranbrook Acadmey. A 1988 exhibition at MOMA about deconstructivist architecture brought the term into larger consciousness. Gill suggests that Martin Margiela is an example of deconstruction architecture of the body. His clothing is composed of parts of other clothes, linings, zippers or fixtures from many places with transparent assembly. “Margiela literally brings the secrets to the surface.”

Margiela S 2007 and Margiela jacket made of a Swiss Army bag 2006

Deconstruction is also a living critique of the fashion system. Decontructivist designers reveal fashion’s charms – ornament, glamour, spectacle, illusion, fantasy, and exclusion. Importantly however, the designer is not just not destoying. It is instead a simultaneous “forming and deforming, constructing and destroying, making and undoing clothes.” The design and anti-design are equally essential.

Margiela boots, 2008 and Margiela Glass Slipper, 2009

In “Part-Object,” Yve-Alain Bois and Rosalind Krauss begin by explaining that the presentation of Swiss artist Giacometi’s “Suspended Ball,” (1930) was embraced by the surrealists. The divided ball hanging above a curved wedge created a tension in the viewer’s experience. The work was not about the ball being suspended as much as the moment of suspense, suspense forever unfilled in this installation. The work actually prompted Dali’s articulation of the idea of “surrealist objects.” Yet Dali’s objects consistently depend on the need for explanation, like illustrations of his text. The authors suggest that the “part object” sexualized content of Giacometti’s work resists the thematic, narrative type of explanation. Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein considers organs as things that are not connected to the body but rather considered as abstract, loaded symbols. Bataille’s surrealist photography of the body often alters angle to transform the body into an abstract shape. Lygia Clark's “Propositions” from 1966-1968 are sculptures that engage the human body into the art work.

Lygia Clark "Propositions," 1966-1968

Anti-Fashion

In his essay “Anti-Fashion,” Fred Davis describes types of anti-fashion. Utilitarian Outrage is the argument against the frivolity of fashion as a constant turnover of style. The Russian constructivists and Bauhaus studios created loose fitting, single color garments that denied over the top, excessive style. Utilitarian forms are evident today in consistency season to season, from the Gap to Chanel, with a preference for neutrals and functional, durable forms.

Varvara Stepanova, Russian gymnasium clothing, 1923

The naturalism argument against fashion is that the forms are constricting. From the high heel to the three piece suit, many aspects of the status quo are imposing. One reaction is fitness clothing which has made its way into fashion.

Bruce Weber for V Magazine, 41

Many feminists argue that fashion emphasizes youth and sexuality. The use of men’s clothing and the increase of unisex clothing is evidence of this consciousness.

Terry Tsiolis for V magazine, Fall 2007

Conservative skepticism suggests that indulging in fashion is an over-estimation of the times. The fashion industry is seen as a propaganda machine that positions basic clothing as “out of fashion.” Minority groups such as Hassidic Jews and the Amish, maintain their dress out of devotion and are not engaged in fashion. Dress is a distinguishing factor like law or language.

Amish bonnet, Vogue Italia, 2007

However the Afro and Mexican Zoot suit are examples of minority style factors that have worked their way into fashion. There are also fashion styles considered actively counterculture. The beatniks, hippies and punks consciously dressed in forms that opposed the status quo. Now many of those forms have been appropriated by designers like Gautier, Moschino or Vivenne Westwood who have made them more common and acceptable.

Mario Testino, Vogue Paris, November 2008

London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 Highlights

Check out the runway highlights from Burberry, Peter Pilotto, Roksanda Ilincic and Basso & Brooke during the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 last week.

Burberry

The Burberry show in London was flooded by celebrities like Emma Watson, Victoria Beckham, Liv Tyler and Freida Pinto. Burberry's collection for next year's spring and summer season was consist of nude palette. The pieces came in pale hues of pink, grey, blue and lemon yellow. Models walked in the runway with ruffles, body-hugging drapes and frills, skirts and tops that are accessorized by skinny leather belts.

Roksanda Ilincic

Roksanda's collection was comprise of silk fabrics in nude, bronze, turquoise and black colors. You will also see double breasted trenches with bold shoulders, wide pants and maxiskirts.

Peter Pilotto

Sun-bleached fabrics were dominant in Peter Pilotto's collection that ranges from grey to blue to yellow and green colors. Bold shoulders, asymmetric frocks and fold-over skirts paraded the catwalk.

Basso & Brooke

Basso & Brooke's creations were full of colorful prints. Models wore sexy dresses and minidresses that made them look more sassy.

Source: Instyle UK

Dolls Replaced Michelle Obama, Jackie O and Carla Bruni in Harper's Bazaar Japan

The September issue of Harper's Bazaar in Japan featured the First Ladies fashion styles. Entitled as First Lady Chic, the magazine showcased the fashion statements of Michelle Obama, Jackie Kennedy, and Carla Bruni.

However, when you go through the pages of the said magazine, you'll be surprised to see that the First Ladies had been replaced by dolls. The dolls posed in different presidential events.







Photo Source